Hunting Ember (Pride of Alphas #1) - Milly Taiden Page 0,3
shot back, taking his nephew into his arms.
“That’s a parenting lesson you learn quick,” Lee added. “Anything to keep the peace.”
“Especially now that you’ll be outnumbered,” Kai pointed out as he settled Silvester into his booster seat at the table.
“Don’t remind me of that,” Carmen grumbled between bites of creamy potato salad. “I’m having nightmares about the kids tying us up and taking over the house.”
“What is the worst that could happen?” Kai asked, earning him a stare down, not just from his brother and sister-in-law but also from his parents.
“Do you not remember what it was like to be a young cub?” His mother rolled her eyes heavenward. “I swear the pair of you almost ate us out of the home. And the scuffles.” She shook her head with a hint of a smile.
“The hole in the basement window,” Dad pointed at him with his fork, a piece of steak skewered on the end of it.
“Hey, now,” Kai argued. “We were just practicing our awesome fighting moves. It’s not my fault Lee landed in the wall.”
“You threw me into it,” Lee shot back.
Silvester giggled, clapping his hands together. “The baby has to be a boy. I want to throw my brother into a wall, too!”
Carmen dropped her head in her hands. “Good lord, can we stop giving the little terror ideas?”
“Wall kick, wall kick,” Silvester chanted happily while flicking bits of potato toward Sophie. The toddler took the pieces of food and stuffed them eagerly into her mouth, unaware that her big brother was just trying to goad a reaction out of her.
Kai took Silvester out of his seat and plopped him down onto his lap, away from Sophie. The boy only argued for two seconds before settling into eating now that he had adult supervision. Kai knew even a tiny shifter who hadn’t yet gone through the first change wouldn’t be able to resist a nice, juicy steak.
“That looks good on you, Kai,” his mother said dreamily. “A little boy on your lap. That reminds me. Mildred has a niece coming into town. We thought you could meet her for a coffee?”
Kai sighed heavily. “Sure.” It couldn’t hurt, though he sincerely hoped that Mildred’s niece didn’t turn out to be his mate. Mildred was the biggest gossip in all of the pride. He didn’t need his business reported back to a well-meaning aunt, only to have the whole pack learn about his personal life.
His pride didn’t need to know that he liked to cuddle in the morning, that he had a sweet tooth that made it impossible for him to resist sweets, that he was a big softy who got misty at some commercials. All of the pride saw him as a big, grumpy lion, and he wanted to keep it that way to make ruling that much easier. It also made operating his family’s private security business simpler.
No one wanted to hire a wet, whimpering kitty to protect their properties and belongings. They wanted a tough, no-nonsense man.
There were private things about himself that only his innermost circle should know. Things that he would love to share with a mate.
“Uncle Kai, can we go play now?” Silvester poked him in the rib, showing his empty plate.
“Of course, kid. How about we bring your sister with us?”
Silvester pouted at that, preferring to be the center of attention during games. Silvester was going to have a hell of a hard time accepting the new baby when it came into the world. Kai made a note to plan a fun activity with his nephew as soon as Carmen gave birth.
If one thing was important to Kai, it was family and looking out for his own. Silvester would realize that as time went on. He would become his sister’s greatest protector, of that Kai was sure.
After all, protecting what was theirs wasn’t just a lion thing.
It was a Mason thing.
Chapter Three
Ember
Ember wasn’t going to let anything ruin her day.
Not that her alarm hadn’t gone off. Or that she hadn’t had time to grab a coffee.
Not even the newest threatening letter stuffed between her car's windshield wipers would stop her from having the best day ever. The new letter was tucked in the deepest recesses of her purse, where she could pretend that damn thing didn’t exist.
It was her first day on the set, and nothing was going to mess with her good mood. Her life was about to change in a very big way. She could feel it all the way